April 15, 2009
Bluefin Tuna Season Opens
BY: Emily Fisher
As millions of Americans race to finish their love letters to the Internal Revenue Service, across the pond, the Mediterranean purse seine fishing fleet is about to start “taxing” that most rare and coveted sushi fish: bluefin tuna. Today marks the start of the bluefin tuna fishing season in the Mediterranean. Oceana is calling for the immediate closure of the fishery in light of the evidence that stocks are condemned to collapse — even if the fleet complies with 100% of the agreed quotas and management measures. Xavier Pastor, Executive Director of Oceana in Europe, put it this way: “Overexploitation, illegal fishing and the irresponsibility of the Member states that reap the benefits from this fishery have taken this species to the brink of commercial collapse. Under the leadership of the EU, a new recovery plan has been implemented in 2009 that once again ignores scientific recommendations at the most critical point in time for the survival of this species, condemning it in favor of the industry.”